[FRIAM] Dead Stack?

[Nicholas Thompson]

Ok, so here is an example of the KIND of thing we might have discussed at a
FRIAM meeting in the old days:


NICK:  iF friction is negligible between two layers, how in fact do two
layers come to affect one another?

FRIAM MOB::  (affectionate exasperation)  When you have read a physics
book, a philosophy book, and 8 math books, come back and we'll explain it
to you.

NICK TO MOB:  Nuthn' doin'.  If you are so smart, you should be able to
explain it to me NOW.

MOB TO NICK:  Oh, God.  Do we have to?  OH, OKAAAAAAAAAAY.

SUB MOB  1 TO NICK:  Any idiot knows that THIS is how it works

SUB MOB 2  TO NICK:  Any idiot knows  that THAT is how it works.

NICK TO MOBS:  Any idiot knows that THIS and THAT can't both  be true.

ETC.

I learned almost everything I know from those conversations.  I miss them
terribly.

Nick







On Wed, Feb 4, 2026 at 11:32 AM Gary Schiltz <gary at naturesvisualarts.com>
wrote:

> My feeling is that there was a bubble of activity in Santa Fe about
> complexity in the late 1990s (see Wired’s article about “Silicon Mesa”)
> that burst in about 2001. Many who were there are now old farts 😆
>
> On Tue, Feb 3, 2026 at 7:47 PM Jon Zingale <jonzingale at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I know I came to this group in what appears to be its twilight. The
>> in-person meetups are weirdly sad. I feel pressed to ask if it is the case
>> that everyone is either:
>>
>> 1. on vacation/ too busy
>> 2. too depressed / failing to find inspiration
>> 3. moved on to greener forums
>> 4. preferring the company of LLMs
>> ...
>> N. waiting for someone frail to post
>>
>> Sometimes I trawl reddit or whatever discord, but I cannot help but feel
>> like beacons of inspiration are becoming fewer and further between. This
>> group has managed to inspire me, keep my interest, for over a decade. In
>> that time, I pushed myself to understand perspectives that I would never
>> have dreamed existed. I hope there is still something to talk about.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. /
>> ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-..
>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>> Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe   /   Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom
>> https://bit.ly/virtualfriam
>> to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/
>> archives:  5/2017 thru present
>> https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/
>>   1/2003 thru 6/2021  http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/
>>
> .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. /
> ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-..
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe   /   Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom
> https://bit.ly/virtualfriam
> to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/
> archives:  5/2017 thru present
> https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/
>   1/2003 thru 6/2021  http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/
>


-- 
Nicholas S. Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology
Clark University
nthompson at clarku.edu
https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson
https://substack.com/@monist
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